Stew and Park were very happy when they finished carpentry school. They were ready to be<\/p>\n
expert builders. In the summer after their graduation, they both got jobs with a very good<\/p>\n
building firm. They each were given a project to complete and were very excited. They each<\/p>\n
took their tools to the construction site and looked at the plans for their buildings. Stew studied<\/p>\n
the plans carefully and prepared a list of materials. When they arrived, he started to work<\/p>\n
carefully following the plan and keeping a detailed list of materials he used and time he spent<\/p>\n
on every aspect of the project. Stew worked hard ten hours everyday, but always took time to<\/p>\n
rest and refresh himself daily.<\/p>\n
Park was very anxious to get started. Instead of making a detailed materials list, he ordered<\/p>\n
large quantities of the things he thought he might need. After reviewing the plans, he made<\/p>\n
several \u201cimprovements\u201d, knowing his new employer would be happy with the initiative he<\/p>\n
showed. He even changed the location of the building fifty yards further south because the<\/p>\n
land was more level and offered a better view. Park often spied on Stew’s progress, laughing to<\/p>\n
himself at how slowly he was getting things done. He also thought it was a waste of time to<\/p>\n
keep such careful records. After all, he thought \u201cmy employer will be so happy with my<\/p>\n
building he won’t even care about record keeping.\u201d Park worked twelve to fourteen hours<\/p>\n
everyday. You never know, he thought, when the employer might arrive. Park wanted to be far<\/p>\n
ahead of Stew when he came. He didn’t waste time putting small pieces of wood together. He<\/p>\n
would always cut from a full sheet, even if it left a lot of waste.<\/p>\n
Stew was making regular progress, checking and double checking the plan and the<\/p>\n
measurements so everything would be just right and very little would be wasted. He paid no<\/p>\n
attention to Park. His only concern was making sure he carried out his employer’s wishes and<\/p>\n
making the best use of all the employer’s resources.<\/p>\n
The day finally came. The employer was coming. Stew and Park were both very excited.<\/p>\n
Stew kept working as he was, but Park was frantically trying to get every little detail finished.<\/p>\n
Park knew the employer would be very pleased with his building and all he had gotten done.<\/p>\n
He even felt sorry for Stew, figuring he would probably get demoted or fired. Park knew <\/span><\/span>he<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n would be getting a promotion. After all, he had done much more than Stew. His building was<\/p>\n much larger and better looking.<\/p>\n The employer went to Stew first. Stew approached him very respectfully, shook his hand,<\/p>\n showed him the ledger and then the building he made, which was exactly as the employer had<\/p>\n wanted it built. The employer was very happy with Stew. He gave him a raise and<\/p>\n immediately put him in charge of his biggest projects. When Park saw how generous his<\/p>\n employer was, he was sure great things were coming his way.<\/p>\n Park quickly walked up to his employer, looked him in the eye, shook his hand and patted<\/p>\n him on the back, as if they had been close friends for years. Park was absolutely beaming. He<\/p>\n had a big smile on his face and could not wait to see how pleased the employer would be with<\/p>\n all he had done. The employer looked around in astonishment! What have you done! This<\/p>\n building cost twice as much to build as it should have, and because of the changes you made, it<\/p>\n will never be suitable for its intended purpose. Not only that, but you built it fifty yards too far<\/p>\n south. It is in the flood plain\u037e in the spring, the runoff will wash it away.<\/p>\n You stole from me, you did not carry out my instructions and you wasted my resources.<\/p>\n Instead of getting promoted, he was sent to jail.<\/p>\n Is your building useful for God, or are you doing what seems best to you? <\/span><\/span>\u201c In those days<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>[Judges 7:16 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span>] If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n God is not the King of our lives, we will all move in different directions and become useless to<\/p>\n God and each other.<\/p>\n We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God\u2019s field,<\/p>\n God\u2019s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like<\/p>\n a skilled masterbuilder<\/p>\n I laid a foundation, but someone else<\/p>\n builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. For<\/p>\n no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid,<\/p>\n which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with<\/p>\n gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each<\/p>\n builder\u2019s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it<\/p>\n clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test<\/p>\n what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built<\/p>\n survives, he will receive a reward. If someone\u2019s work is burned<\/p>\n up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as<\/p>\n through fire. <\/b><\/span><\/span>1 Corinthians 3:915<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NET<\/p>\n We can work very hard in this life, but if we are not following The Master’s plan, all of our<\/p>\n works can be burned up. <\/span><\/span>\u201cFor we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>[Ephesians<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 2:10 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span>] God has prepared works in advance for us to do. We must do His Good Works.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Very often we try to improve on God’s plan\u037e but when we do, we accomplish nothing good for<\/p>\n Him.<\/p>\n \u201c The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as<\/p>\n Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, ‘See<\/p>\n that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain’.\u201d<\/p>\n [Hebrews 8:5 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span>] We are God’s Tabernacle (Temple) because God, through Christ, dwells in<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n us. We must be careful to do everything according to The Master’s plan.<\/p>\n To The Glory Of God<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stew and Park were very happy when they finished carpentry school. They were ready to be expert builders. In the summer after their graduation, they both got jobs with a very good building firm. They each were given a project to complete and were very excited. They each took their tools to the construction site […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}